the new year

there’s something about the holidays that brings a pang of loneliness to my heart.

nothing does it more than the coming of the new year. not that i would do a mary version of a bridget jones new year’s resolution list…but doesn’t it get you thinking about all of the things that you wish you could’ve undone?

i wish i could just say that i forgive myself for committing those mistakes but no. apparently, i am not so forgiving as that.

if i will weigh the good and the bad things that happened allthroughout 2005, i can say that it was tough… and 2006 will probably be tougher.

oh well, no escaping the inevitable, so we would just have to face it like the grownup that we say we are.

the value of honesty

how do you know when to hide the truth and when to say it up front?

if the truth is bad news to the receiver, then it might be better to just hide it… but then, little by little it becomes a crack that could possibly be a gaping hole in the relationship.

goodness knows that when one tries to be honest, one ends up stuttering and maybe phrasing the words differently from how you want it to say…

i talked to daddy last night, and i think the talk costed me more than i would dare bargain for.  i never thought to see him bare his feelings like that to me and neither was i prepared to face it.

things like honesty just leaves me speechless sometimes.

monthsaries

2 years and three months of pure bliss. and this, despite the poor economic conditions of this country. haha…as if that has any bearing whatsoever on love.

the strange thing is, i’m too old to feel *kilig* all over, but that’s exactly how he makes me feel. i know that we’re still pretty “new” and that i shouldn’t rejoice too early that i found the love of my life…who can, in a snap of a finger, be a love lost.

but every moment i spend with him is heaven, and if he will ever become a love lost to me one day, at least, for a time, i had my taste of paradise.

not to be too hopelessly romantic, and at my age, i know it doesn’t look cute anymore, the subject of love is one i will breach with ease. he has made it easy for me to dream. he has made it easy for me to laugh.

he has made it his life’s work to make me happy, but i know he doesn’t really have to exert too much effort. his being there for me is more than enough.

:mooning to the tune of sarah mclachlan’s blackbird:

they’ve exhausted their storm names hee hee

funny.

to think that here in the philippines, exhausting the letters of the alphabet to name storms - from Agring to Yoling - is not an unusual thing.

in the US however, it is considered record breaking. a new hurricane named Wilma (looking for Fred?) is seen as having the strength of both Katrina and Rita. boy, are they concerened.

Wilma is the 12th hurricane of the Atlantic season, meaning that 2005 will tie 1969 as the worst since records began in 1851. It is also the season’s 21st named storm, equalling the 1933 record, and exhausting this year’s alphabetical list of names. Any further storms will be designated by letters of the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha. Officially, the Atlantic hurricane season does not end until 31 November.

- BBC News

about to hit the sack

oh well. it’s 4pm and i’m almost, but not quite, in the verge of falling asleep.

it’s difficult when one has to sleep in the morning, and work at night. after almost three years of doing this, i’m still not used to it. so is my boyfriend.

i don’t work in a call center, but i might as well be doing so with the hours i’m keeping. i did love staying up late before, but to do that every single day and stay awake and alert for 12-16 hours does take its toll on one’s health.

also, daddy is at home at night, and it’s kinda sad to be working when he’s at home sleeping with noone in his arms except a pillow.

*sigh

I.PH Forum’s Proposed Halloween EB

am crossposting here, since i’ve posted basically the same thing in the forums.

i really think that a Halloween EB would be nice, especially since the i.ph family is still in its early stages and it would really be interesting to meet the people that have made this possible for us blog-lovers.

also, we will all have lots of things to post in our blogs after that. hehe.

for the love of pasta

everyday when i pass by Robinson’s Galleria on my way home, i can’t help but wish that there’s a Sbarro’s branch there. it’s strange that most Sbarro’s branches that i see are in SM Department stores. i really wish there was one in Galleria.

anyway, just for the heck of it, maybe i’ll whip an oven-baked ziti with red sauce one day. i already got the recipe i want, and i’m publishing it here (courtesy of Bon Appetit):

Oven-Baked Ziti With Three Cheeses
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Fennel seeds
1/3 cup Tomato paste
1 Tomato sauce
1 cup Water
1 tsp Dried oregano leaves
-crumbled
1/2 tsp Dried sage, rubbed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz Mozzarella cheese, grated
12 oz Freshly cooked ziti or
Other tubular pasta
1 Egg

Heat oil in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion,
garlic and fennel seeds and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Mix in tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, water,
oregano and sage. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly, stirring
occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup parmesan. Season to
taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 450. Butter 9×13 inch glass baking dish. In medium
bowl combine ricotta cheese and egg. Reserve 1/4 cup mozzarella
cheese for topping. Add remaining mozzarella to ricotta cheese
mixture and blend. season with salt and pepper.

Spread 1/4 of tomato sauce over bottom of prepared dish. Layer 1/3 of
pasta over. Drop half of ricotta cheese mixture over by spoonfuls.
Spread 1/4 of sauce over. Repeat layering with another 1/3 of pasta,
remaining cheese mixture, 1/4 of sauce and remaining pasta. Spread
remaining sauce over and sprinkle with reserved mozzarella and
remaning 1/4 cup parmesan.

my congratulations to talented friends

just heard that they’re now online…MONOACID!

yup, this is a band that goes a long way with daddy (my boyfriend)… i’ve heard them play once in Bicol during the Penafrancia fest, and they were good. They play funky jazz music and are very very very good at it.

oh well, listen to them at http://fiestamundo.com/monoacid.

i’m not prejudiced, mind you. am usually very critical especially where music is concerned and i can honestly say that this band will go a long way indeed.

wonder of wonders

i don’t know if i was imagining it awhile go, but i waited too long to be this disappointed.
what i get for great expectations:

i never got to read neil gaiman’s American Gods till today and what did i find? a strange sense of deja vu. (pardon me for not putting an accent sign on top of the u, i can’t find it). i had this strange feeling that i was reading Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. yup, it hit me in exactly the same spot.

i don’t know what to make of it… influence maybe? i know he wrote “Don’t Panic” for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but I didn’t realize that he took to writing about the whole gods-walking-the-earth-and-getting-ordinary-jobs thing.

i have to admit that it unsettled me. i’ve always considered neil gaiman to be an original. his Snow, Glass, Apples is something that turned the whole Snow White tale upside down that you could only marvel at the genius of the man.

i heard that there’s already a sequel to the American Gods… hmm.

if he went up to me to explain though - of course, i’d give him the time of day. 

he is cute, after all.  

homicidal psycho jungle cat

Calvin and Hobbes has always been my favorite of all the comic strips. Somehow the whole feel of the comic strip is of an advanced version of Peanuts or Krazy Kat.

Almost all people who love this strip marvel at how short its stint was in the newspapers…and yet, it was able to endure.

i guess quality speaks for itself.

new blog, new feel

this is truly fantastic!!!!

i have never had a domain name, or email address with just “mary” in it…and now i.ph has made it possible…

i love it!!!

to be the first, man, what a lovely feeling (this is probably close to the feeling men get when they’re “first” with a woman, hehehe)

i just want to give my thanks to i.ph! I LOVE YOU GUYS!